Stereotypes, negativity bias, and the discussion of unshared information in decision-making groups

Previous research demonstrates that groups are more likely to discuss information shared by all group members than information known by only one group member (i.e., unshared information). It was hypothesized in this study that stereotypic expectancies and the negativity bias (i.e., the tendency to use negative information more than positive information) made groups less likely to overlook unshared information. Results from Experiment 1 indicate that a stereotype was activated and resulted in individuals rating a male applicant higher than a female applicant for a masculine gender-typed position. No effects for stereotypic expectancies were found in the group decision-making task (Experiment 2), but the negativity bias was found to increase the discussion of both shared and unshared information. The implications for future research are considered.